Nascent entrepreneurship and inventive activity: a somewhat new perspective

Abstract

This paper focuses on the nexus between nascent entrepreneurship (NE) and inventive activity. It questions how NE affects inventive activity (including innovation and patenting) while analyzing the views and predictions that have used patenting as an indicator of entrepreneurial behavior. Using data on German researchers and controlling for their personal, professional and institutional attributes, the findings show that NE increases both patenting and innovation. Implications for technology policy are discussed.